The Epistle to the Hebrews is one of the most gospel-packed yet least-studied books of the New Testament. It focuses squarely on Jesus Christ as our high priest and personal representative before the Father. Jesus is indeed “Our Man In Heaven.” Our greatest need is to keep our eyes fixed firmly on Jesus. Three times the author of Hebrews urges us to do just that.
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SEE JESUS. The unknown author of Hebrews first gathers a bouquet of Scriptures from throughout the Old Testament that contrast the exalted position of angels with the far greater position of Jesus the Son of God (ch. 1). Yet Jesus, in assuming humanity, became lower than angels — to bring us to the place of glory for which God originally made humankind. Chapter two borrows words from Psalm 8 to portray that position of intended honor when “all things are made subject” to mankind. Yet we cannot now find even one man or woman whom that fits. “But we see” Jesus (2:9) — “crowned with glory and honor.” Jesus now occupies the exalted position for which God intended humankind but which sin has thwarted. He shared our humiliation so that we can share his glory.
CONSIDER JESUS. Knowing this, the author continues, “consider Jesus” (3:1). How did he come to this place of honor? By his absolute faithfulness to God, chapter three explains — a faithfulness greater even than that of Moses! Unlike the doubting Israelites in the wilderness, who tested God by not trusting his provision and therefore by not obeying his leading, Jesus trusted God every new day of his life, all the way to the end. The key is contained in one sentence which the author quotes from Psalm 95. “Today if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.” Jesus opened his ears every morning to God’s voice, and he always followed the Father’s instructions (Isa. 50:4-5). He did this each day — “so long as it is called ‘Today'” — which is the way life is lived. Jesus was supremely faithful to the Father. He came to do the Father’s will — in a human body as a man for others (ch. 10, quoting and reapplying Psalm 40).
FIX YOUR EYES ON JESUS. So the author of Hebrews points again to Jesus, in chapter 12, urging us to complete our race, surrounded as we are by generations of faithful men and women who preceded us. “Fixing our eyes on Jesus,” we see God’s faithfulness to those who trust and obey him (12:2). Jesus risked everything, even life itself. He took God totally at his word. If God did not prove faithful, Jesus would decay in the grave and nothing would flow from Calvary but the memory of a tragic martyr. But God was faithful — he raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him to his right hand in heaven! The author of Hebrews urges us to make this our fixed vision as we complete our own course. Fix your eyes on Jesus — never lose sight of that vision. It will sustain you to the end.